Asbo call over jokes about the Pope

A man who published jokes about the Pope's death on a spoof village website was yesterday threatened with an antisocial behaviour order.

Police were asked to investigate after Mitch Hawkin posted a spoof advert for the job of pontiff following the death of John Paul II.

Mr Hawkin's website has been involved in a feud with a similarly named website in Lyneham, Wiltshire. The website said: "Fancy a new job? The Vatican is now looking for a new Pope now that the current one has snuffed it."

The remarks continued: "Let's hope the next Pope can do a better job. Better still, why not abolish the position of Pope, as religion, at the end of the day, causes more wars than anything else."

Mr Hawkin has been involved in a feud with www.lynehamvillage.com which has a gentler tone, and claims to be the original website for Lyneham. It is run by Andy Humm, who describes his rival as bringing "shame" on Lyneham.

Critics of the spoof site fear that people looking for information about the village will read that site first rather than Mr Humm's more sedate version, whose home page has pictures of daffodils and urges people to pick up litter.

Mr Humm said: "What Mr Hawkin has said about the Pope is disgusting and outrageous. Mr Hawkin should be charged."

Mr Humm and a local councillor have been pressing for an Asbo to be taken out against the alternative site.

Allison Bucknell, a Conservative councillor for Lyneham, said: "An Asbo is being looked at against Mr Hawkin. He's causing a lot of damage to the community."

The council's antisocial behaviour officer had tried to mediate, but Mr Hawkin did not show up.

A Wiltshire police spokesman said investigations were under way after a series of complaints.